V2.6.0. Painful But Perhaps Some Good Features Under The Hood

[AncientGeek]

I don’t see a section for the system as a whole, so I just stuck this under the Pro 2 heading.

I’ve been digging around to see what’s in this release besides the obvious lack of the thumbnail dashboard.

After digging into it, I don’t think this update was “all bad”...just the destruction of the device view.  The prior version was a great dashboard view of our systems.  Clearly most people liked and relied upon that dashboard.  It was valuable and will be valuable again when (and if) it is restored.

Some things appear to be better.

1. In the past, I have seen the date and time stamps on videos change when I download them to my iPad.  Rather than arriving with the original date and time of the recording, the metadata would change to the date and time of the download...clearly not helpful!    On 2.6.0, I have done some limited testing and the time stamps appears to download correctly along with the video.  If this holds true, this is a good fix!
2. Also, I appear to be able to crop a video by editing it in iOS Photos now.  I don’t recall for sure if I could do that previously.  I know that editing a video in iMovie appears to destroy the video and this is still true on 2.6.0.  If I edit it with iMovie the video is destroyed, rather than cropped.  At least one method works.
3. I like the Base Station and Bridge status found by clicking the button at the very bottom of the Devices screen.  This would be helpful, if I didn’t have to scroll past 32 full screen camera images to get to it.  Please bring back the dashboard thumbnail view!
4. Device Settings is informative, but I agree the icon to get there should be a gear rather than an ellipsis and it should skip the useless intermediate step.  Just go to the settings!  Then the “Remove Device” button should be smaller and off to one side...away from everything else and much harder to hit by accident.  I haven’t tried it, but if it doesn’t already come with a warning that explains the process the user will need to perform to rejoin the camera with the system, such a warning should definitely be included due to the dire consequences of removing a device when the user is far, far away from the system and should only remove a camera very deliberately and with full knowledge of the consequences.
5. Hopefully there are other improvements that are more subtle to detect, but even better.
6. Fortunately for me, I have not experienced the many problems that others have reported.  I’ve seen some quirky issues, but overall my systems still work and are fully usable with some extra effort on my part.  I’m not sure why our experiences vary so significantly on this point.
7. However, the thumbnail dashboard and all of the information on it, should be returned ASAP.  That was extremely valuable to many (if not most) users.  It is a total waste of screen real estate on an iPad to display a single camera image in that initial view.  The dashboard is absolutely the right initial view.  Lots of information with the ability to drill down for details, is what made that a really good display.  Ideally users should be able to decide how many camera images they see on single dashboard screen...customized per device, of course, not by the account ID.  There would be practical limits, of course, but 1 to “n” where “n” still allows the other status information to be visible and “touchable” for drill downs...would be nice.

[AncientGeek]

I should clarify that I'm using the iOS app in iOS 12.0.1.  It appears the Android app may be having more problems.

I have a mix of 30 cameras.  Original Arlo Wireless, Arlo Pro, Arlo Pro 2, Arlo Q and Arlo Q-Plus.  I think all of my orginal Arlo wireless camderas are now powered by Arlo approved rechargeable CR123s.  Some of my Pro 2 cameras are connected to AC power inside, Some of my Pro and Pro 2 cameras are connected to solar panels, some are running off battery.  Most of my Q-Plus cameras are POE powered, but some are powered locally.  Two cameras are on the original base station, the other wireless cameras are connected to Pro Base Stations.